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The Chesapeake region is a beautiful and diverse ecosystem. We marvel every day at the splendor and majesty of the bay's view, and we also delight in the bounty that is provided. Delicious Maryland rockfish, steamed blue crabs, oysters by the bushel... the Chesapeake offers something for everyone's taste,
Here are a few of our favorite local recipes. |
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Maryland Steamed Crabs
 The "Truly Maryland Way"
½ Cup Seafood Seasoning
½ Cup Salt
3 Cups White Vinegar
3 Cups Beer (or water)
3 Dozen Live (and lively) Maryland Blue Crabs
Mix seasoning, vinegar and beer (or water) well. Put one-half crabs in very large pot with rack and TIGHT fitting lid. **Pour one-half of seasoning mixture over top. Add rest of crabs and remaining liquid. Steam, covered, until crabs turn bright red in color, about 20 to 30 minutes. Serve hot or cold. Make about 6 to 12 servings, depending upon size of crabs and other foods served.
** If two pots are used, layer crabs and measure seasoning mixture accordingly. |
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Maryland Crab Cakes
1 pound Maryland crabmeat (pasteurized or fresh)
1/2 cup cracker crumbs or bread crumbs
 2 eggs (or 1 large)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon seafood seasoning
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Carefully remove all cartilage from crabmeat. In a bowl, mix together eggs, mayonnaise, seafood seasoning, white pepper, Worcestershire sauce and dry mustard. Add crabmeat; mix evenly and gently. Add cracker crumbs evenly. Shape into 6 cakes. Deep fry in oil at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown. Or sauté in a frying pan with a little oil for 5 minutes on each side.
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 Cream of Crab Soup
Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Flour
1 teaspoon Old Bay Crab Seasoning
1 teaspoon minced onion
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 6oz. can Chicken of the Sea Lump Crabmeat (or fresh)
1 pint Light Cream
Parsley (optional)
Melt butter, add Old Bay and minced onion in saucepan over medium heat, add lemon juice, stir. Add flour, stirring constantly, gradually add light cream, continuing to stir, add crabmeat and let simmer a few minutes. Then serve, garnish with a dash of Old Bay and Parsley Flakes. Enjoy.
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Stuffed Rockfish
6 to 8 pound rockfish (or local fish), cleaned and scaled
Rub fish with lemon inside and out. Salt and pepper, place in greased pan.
STUFFING:
I pound crab meat
I heaping tablespoon mayonnaise
I egg
1 teaspoon mustard
I teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
I slice of bread, dipped In water and squeezed dry
Salt, pepper and Tabasco to taste
Mix stuffing ingredients well and place loosely in fish.
Preheat oven to 350.
TOPPING:
- Corn flake crumbs
- Butter or margarine
Sprinkle generously with corn flake crumbs. Dot with butter or margarine. Cover loosely with foil. Bake at 350 for I hour. Uncover, let brown. Serve on platter with parsley and lemon slices.
Serves 8. |
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 From the outset of the Civil War, the Chesapeake Bay was recognized as one of the most important pieces of real estate in America. The Capitals of both warring entities lay astride her tributaries - Washington, D.C. on the Potomac River and Richmond beside the James River. The short distance between these centers of power - 60 miles over land and 250 via water - kept huge armies prowling around Northern Virginia and Maryland for the length of the War. Access to the Bay meant the ability to quickly transport troops from one point to another, to receive shipped goods, and to threaten the enemy with strikes deep into their territory. Whoever could control access to the Bay would have a powerful advantage.
Early in the conflict, the federal government created the Potomac Flotilla, a small fleet designed to patrol the Potomac River and the waters of the upper-Bay. They would have their hands full trying to curtail the legions of smugglers, raiders and rebels that sought to disrupt federal control of the Bay.
In 1862, the Bay was site of one of the most important naval battles in history, when the ironclads CSS Virginia and USS Monitor fought to a bloody standstill in the waters of Hampton Roads, Virginia, near the mouth of the Bay. The clash brought about a new era in naval engineering.
Later that same year, the Union army carried out the largest troop transport in American history to that date via the waters of the Bay. More than 100,000 men and supplies were floated from Alexandria, Virginia to the York-James peninsula in Virginia to begin General George McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign, which would advance to within sight of the spires of Richmond.
From 1863 to 1865, Point Lookout, Maryland - a sandy spit of land located at the junction of the Potomac River and the Bay - was one of the most notorious and deadly prisoner-of-war camps in the North. More than 50,000 rebel prisoners were held there, and tragically, over 4,000 of them perished from starvation and disease. |
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